No, No, No!

I should, however, point out that there is fine print: this kind of absurd, punitive, counterproductive, and stupid policy toward Cuba is not the exclusive province of this particular administration or this particular congress, but is the reflection of the structural strength of the anti-Castro lobby. Don’t hope for things to become less stupid for a while, no matter who wins elections.

Six months ago that would have been right, but after a brief feint toward trying to out-absurd Bush on Cuba policy, John Kerry has seen the light. Listening to pollsters who tell him that younger generations of Cuban-Americans (see, e.g., me) do not favor absurd, punitive, counterproductive, and stupid policy toward Cuba, Kerry has come out against these latest moves, thus making his Cuba policy marginally less absurd, punitive, counterproductive, and stupid. From a short-term perspective, the Cuba policy implications of this election are probably not enormous, but there’s a big “but” here. This is to say that if Kerry’s strategy works, and he managed to become the first candidate since 1960 to win the state of Florida by advocating a less bad Cuba policy than his opponent, then the political power of the hideous CANF may be broken and the prospects for a rational policy will rise significantly.